Sloane Stephens vs Nadia Podoroska Prediction & Betting Tips - WTA Rome

Prediction published on 09/05/2023, 05:15  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 09/05/2023 at 08:43 in Tennis Predictions

The WTA Rome Open first round will get underway this week, and in our featured match, we will see Sloane Stephens take on Nadia Podoroska on Wednesday morning. Stephens will come into this tournament extremely confident after a solid last outing that saw her lift the title at the Saint Malo 125 tournament at the start of the month. In that tournament, Stephens looked much better than she did last month in Madrid and Charleston and romped to her first title win of the year, overcoming Greet Minnen in straight sets in the final match. That was a much-needed win for the American after a difficult start to the year. Now ranked 36th in the world, Stephens is 10-9 for the year but 6-2 on the clay and will be confident that she can get a result over an opponent that has been struggling on the clay surface this year. 

Following her victory at the Cali 125 tournament at the end of January, Podoroska has seen her world ranking steadily improve from 156th at the start of the year to 101st at present, and a good run here should see her break in the top 100. Argentine continued her solid clay form at the W60 Chiasso tournament, where she reached the semi-final before surprisingly losing to Mirra Andreeva in straight sets. Podoroska is now 16-11 for the year and 10-5 on the clay. Podoroska made it to the round of 16 in this tournament last year but will have to overcome a difficult draw to get past the first round this time.